TambakooKills News Summary: 9 May 2008

In bad news for the tobacco companies, but good for the city's health in Jaipur, 80% of respondents to a survey said they do not smoke. More interestingly, the proportion of non-smokers among those in their twenties (82%) was higher than among those in their thirties (77%). Again, 60% of those who are smokers said they do not smoke at home, the proportion once again being higher among those in the twenties (66%). This, of course, could be because many of the younger age group still live with their parents.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has voiced their concern over Misbah-ul-Haq's association with the Royal Challengers Indian Premier League team. Royal Challengers is an alcohol brand of the Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries (UB) group, who are the franchise owner of the Bangalore-based IPL team.

"But yes we do discourage our players from even sporting logos promoting alcohol or tobacco products."

The Pakistan government has also banned tobacco advertising on television and at sporting venues.

A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers. Youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones, the researchers reported in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

“There is really no other smoking intervention program that could cut almost in half the rate of smoking," said Dr. Michael Siegel, of Boston University School of Public Health, and the study's lead author.